


i don't usually give into peer pressure (but i'll give into yours)

by lazyfish



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (neither in a positive light), Anti-Valentine's Day, F/M, Mentioned Leophelia, Mentioned SkyeWard, background skimmons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:15:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29558265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: Bobbi meets someone interesting at her coworker's Anti-Valentine's Day party.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Bobbi Morse
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	i don't usually give into peer pressure (but i'll give into yours)

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on [this moodboard](https://2minutes2midnight.tumblr.com/post/643047465434726400) by the lovely Zuza :)

Bobbi wouldn’t have entertained anyone else the moment the words _Valentine’s Day_ and _party_ were uttered, but she listened to Jemma just long enough to hear she wasn’t suggesting an actual Valentine’s Day party - quite the opposite, actually. It was a good thing, because Bobbi loathed Valentine’s Day. The commercialism would’ve been bad enough, but when you added onto it all the shit about finding one true love, it was absolutely intolerable. No one else ought to care whether or not she was in love with someone, and it wasn’t like flaunting a relationship made it any better or healthier, either.

An _Anti_ -Valentine’s Day party, though? That was more Bobbi’s speed.

It was apparent Jemma had invited her in an effort to get other people to agree to come - an Anti-Valentine’s Day party didn’t have any appeal if it was just you and one other person being lonely and miserable together. 

Luckily, that wasn’t the case. Jemma’s apartment was stuffed to the gills with people who, for whatever reason, hated Valentine’s Day. There was more wine than anyone knew what to do with, breakup songs playing on repeat on an old-fashioned stereo system, and a candy bar full of Valentine’s candy Jemma had snagged at half-price the day after the holiday. In short: it was a perfect excuse to be bitter, drink copious amounts of alcohol, and eat chocolates her partner would’ve bought her if she actually had one.

Bobbi settled onto Jemma’s raggedy couch with a red solo cup of wine in one hand and a plate full of spinach puffs and chocolate in the other. While she was standing in line a the buffet table she’d been chatting with one of Jemma’s college friends, Daisy, about why she was attending the Anti-Valentine’s party, and Bobbi had been so overwhelmed by the number of shitty ex-boyfriends Daisy had managed to amass in the last seven years that she’d needed to sit down.

That wasn’t the only thing she was overwhelmed by.

The guy ahead of her in line was cute. Definitely too cute to be single and bitter, if you asked Bobbi her opinion. When Jemma floated over to the sofa to giggle about what breakup song was playing next on the playlist, Bobbi inclined her head to the curly-haired mystery man. 

“Who’s he?”

“Oh, that’s just Fitz,” Jemma said, hiccuping. Ah. She’d probably started on the rosé before the guests had arrived and was now approaching drunk. That would at least explain why she was more twittery than usual. “He and I did our PhDs at the same school. Different programs, though.”

Bobbi nodded, considering. Cute _and_ smart, and somehow still single and bitter? 

“He’s not a serial killer or anything, is he?”

“Why would I be friends with a serial killer?” Jemma asked, eyebrows knitting together. “Or give him my address?”

“I was just thinking he doesn’t look like the kind of person who would need an Anti-Valentine’s Day party.”

“Neither do you,” Jemma said, gesturing widely with her cup. “I mean, you’re _gorgeous_.” Jemma hiccuped again. “Daisy and I were just talking about it, actually.”

Bobbi snorted. “You’re talking with your best friend about how hot I am?”

“We’re single and lonely, cut us a break!” Jemma said. “If you’re going to be mean, I’ll just leave.” Jemma stuck her lip out in a pout, and before Bobbi could apologize for being too harsh, Jemma was already bouncing away. 

Ah well. At least now Bobbi wouldn’t have to try to make conversation while eating her spinach puffs.

“Was Simmons giving you a hard time?”

Bobbi turned to see who had sat next to her on the couch, her heart skipping a beat when she registered it was cute curly-haired man, aka Fitz, aka not-a-serial-killer. 

“She was actually telling me how hot I am,” Bobbi said drily. “I think she’s a little drunk.”

“Sounds like Jemma,” Fitz said, shaking his head fondly. “She and Daisy are talking?”

“How’d you guess?”

“They always talk about how attractive women are when they’re together so they can ignore that they’re actually attracted to each other.”

Bobbi’s eyebrows shot up. _That_ was something she hadn’t known before now. It would explain why Jemma was always so tight-lipped when Bobbi asked about potential romance - being in love with your best friend was a sticky situation.

“They’ve been dancing around it for years. Even I can see it, and I’m…” Fitz gestured vaguely with his hand.

“An absolute failure at love?” Bobbi supplied.

“I was going to say unobservant.” Fitz smiled wryly at her.

“I’ll have to keep an eye on them,” Bobbi said. Since this was her first time meeting Daisy she didn’t know all of the other woman’s tells, but she definitely could read Jemma - especially drunk Jemma, who was, miraculously, worse at lying than sober Jemma.

“It would be funny if two people showed up to an Anti-Valentine’s Day party and ended up going home together,” Bobbi mused as she looked across the room to where Jemma and Daisy were having a very enthusiastic conversation with their hands.

“Funny, but also sad for the rest of us.”

“You can’t seriously be saying that you’re at an Anti-Valentine’s Day party because you can’t find a girlfriend,” Bobbi said, popping a chocolate into her mouth.

“That is what I’m saying, actually,” Fitz said. He took a swig of his drink. “The last person I was maybe going to go out with ended up being _crazy_. She had imagined this whole life for us together where she reunited me with my abusive dad and we started our own company and… well, it was weird.”

“It _sounds_ weird,” Bobbi said, eyes widening. “Daisy was telling me all her crazy ex stories, but I think you’ve got her beat.”

“I don’t know, Grant was pretty bad.”

“Was he the one who -”

“Tried to convert her to Fox News? Yes, yes he was.” Fitz laughed, shaking his head. “What about you? Any funny ex stories?”

“Nope. My only serious relationship didn’t work out because we just wanted different things. He and his boyfriend are really happy together now, though, so.” Bobbi shrugged. “I can make up an ex horror story if you want?”

“So if you don’t have a shitty ex, and you have no trouble finding a boyfriend -”

“Who says I have no trouble finding a boyfriend?”

“Um.” Fitz’s ears turned red. “All of this?” He gestured vaguely towards her.

“Ah, so you agree with Jemma and Daisy that I’m too hot to be single,” Bobbi said. She probably was enjoying Fitz getting flustered a little too much, but he was cute, they were both obviously single, and there was nothing wrong with flirting with him.

“Yes,” Fitz said after another thirty seconds of searching for words and not finding any.

“Good to know,” Bobbi said. “The next time a guy’s interested in me I’ll hand him a list of all the people who think I’m too pretty to be single and see what he makes of it.”

“I’ve been told pretty, smart girls who don’t have boyfriends must be off in the head. So, probably that.”

Bobbi sighed. “Have I mentioned part of the reason I hate Valentine’s Day is because of how our society views romantic love as the be-all end-all of a person’s life? Because I _hate_ that.”

“And Valentine’s Day is a symbol of your frustration,” Fitz agreed, nodding sagely. “I get it.”

“So your hatred runs deeper than your crazy ex, too?” Bobbi asked, sipping at her wine.

“I’m not sure I believe in true love,” Fitz said. “The way it works in fairy tales, where you meet someone and you know you’re going to end up marrying them. It’s like - why can’t I meet someone, have a conversation with them, maybe a shag or two, and then decide how I feel?”

“It only takes you one conversation and two rounds of sex to decide you’re ready to marry someone?” Bobbi asked teasingly.

Fitz rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” Bobbi said. “There’s this idea that you should be able to give up everything for the person you love, and it’s just like… I still want to be me even if I’m with someone else. I don’t want to give up all the good parts of myself because I’m with someone, even if I do love them.” Bobbi didn’t want to give up her work, didn’t want to give up her friendships, didn’t want to give up her _life_ just for a partner. Sure, there were times where her romantic relationship would have to come first - but there were also times when the other things had to come first, too, and people didn't seem to see that anymore. They thought anything less than starry-eyed devotion to her partner was a sign she was too cold or closed-off or whatever else.

“Yeah.” Fitz sighed. “And part of getting to stay yourself is picking the right person who already likes you for who you are, but part of it also has to be _trying_ to stay yourself, right? Not just accepting you’re one half of a whole.”

“Jemma and Daisy just left for Jemma’s bedroom,” Bobbi informed Fitz. She had lost track of the other women while she and Fitz were talking - she was too distracted by his baby-blue eyes and the fascinating conversation to pay much attention to them - but Jemma and Daisy weren’t exactly subtle with the way they were pulling each other down the hall.

“Would you… would you like to leave for my bedroom?” Fitz asked. Bobbi watched his Adam’s apple bob, and she almost felt bad for how nervous he was. “I mean, we seem to agree about a lot of things about love and I obviously find you attractive, so, um. Maybe this can be our last Valentine’s Day spent miserable and single?”

“On one condition,” Bobbi said sternly, putting down her cup so she could hold up one finger. “You can’t propose to me tomorrow morning just because we’ve had sex once.”

Fitz’s shoulders sagged with relief when he realized her condition wasn’t anything ridiculous, and a smile spread across his face. “Deal,” he said, voice dropping into a lower register that sent shivers up Bobbi’s spine.

“My place is just next door,” Fitz said, standing and offering Bobbi his hand. She set her plate down on the floor - she’d be around tomorrow morning to help Jemma clean anyways, so she didn’t feel bad about leaving her trash - and took Fitz’s hand. 

Sparks didn’t shoot up her arm or anything ridiculous like that, seeing as they weren’t in a romance novel, but Fitz’s hand was warm and strong and Bobbi thought she could maybe get used to holding it.

“Just so we’re clear,” Bobbi said as they threaded their way towards the door, “we’re both still going to hate Valentine’s Day even if we end up dating and grossly in love with each other?”

“I don’t see why not.” Fitz swung open the front door of Jemma’s apartment and tugged Bobbi through. She didn’t expect to end up pressed against the door a second later. Apparently giving Fitz even the smallest signal she was interested had boosted his confidence quite a bit. Bobbi did love when a man could take control sometimes.

Fitz fitted his mouth against hers and Bobi’s hands went up into his hair, fingers sliding through his curls. They were even softer than she’d imagined when she’d first saw him in line, and Fitz was a _much_ better kisser than his occasionally-awkward demeanor let on.

“Come on,” Bobbi said, pushing Fitz gently off her. “I don’t think Jemma would appreciate us banging against her door.”

“She’s too busy banging Daisy to care.” Nevertheless Fitz took her hand and guided her down the hall to his own apartment.

“Honestly,” Fitz breathed as he kissed a line down Bobbi’s neck, her fingers fumbling to undo the buttons of his shirt, “this is just making me love Anti-Valentine’s Day even more.”

Bobbi couldn’t agree more.


End file.
